Wellbeing Impacts with Household Energy Poverty in Cold Climate Settlements: Survey Experiment

Abstract

Energy poverty remains a critical challenge in regions characterized by severe and prolonged cold climates, where maintaining adequate indoor thermal comfort is both a biological necessity and a significant financial burden. While traditional metrics of energy poverty heavily rely on expenditure ratios and income thresholds, there is a growing recognition that the deprivation of domestic energy services yields profound consequences for subjective wellbeing, mental health, and social participation. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the wellbeing impacts of household energy poverty using evidence derived from a rigorously designed survey experiment administered to residents in cold climate settlements. By utilizing hypothetical vignettes that manipulate factors such as energy cost shocks, infrastructural efficiency, and policy support availability, the study isolates the causal mechanisms through which energy insecurity deteriorates psychological health and life satisfaction. The findings reveal that acute exposure to perceived energy insecurity significantly decreases multidimensional wellbeing scores, with the most severe impacts observed among households residing in older, energy-inefficient dwellings. Furthermore, the survey experiment demonstrates that targeted informational treatments regarding available financial assistance mitigate a substantial portion of the anticipated psychological distress. The insights generated from this research emphasize the urgent need for multidimensional policy interventions that address both the structural inefficiencies of housing in cold climates and the psychological burdens borne by vulnerable populations.